Re: GTV News of Dec. 18, 2006 – The Nandom Chieftaincy Dispute

In keeping with my promise of continuing investigations on the Nandom Chieftaincy dispute, about which I wrote in an article published on December 9, 2006 captioned “The Nandom Chieftaincy Dispute – Sounding the Death Knell”, I am able to further substantiate the authoritative claims I made earlier, of allegations of political malfeasance and chicanery on the part of the malevolent duo - Mr. Ambrose Dery, the Upper-West Regional Minister and the embattled Naa? Dr? Imoru Puore of Nandom.

Those who doubted the veracity of the claims in that article, unfortunately awoke to the rather disturbing news item on Ghana Television (GTV), on December 18, 2006 on the 7pm news segment, to the effect that ALL (emphasis mine) Four Gates of the Nandom Chieftaincy dispute, had agreed during the last Kakube Festival to recognize Naa? Dr? Charles Puoure Puobe Chiir as Nandom Naa. Further, that ALL (sic) court cases previously filed by the said Four Gates against Dr? Imoru and pending at specific courts of Ghana had been summarily withdrawn. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY FALSE and is a mischievous ploy calculated to divide and destroy the Nandom Royal Family in favour of the political and monarchical goals of Mr. Ambrose Dery and Naa? Imoru respectively. On the malicious intents and purposes of Mr. Dery’s and Naa? Imoru’s latest cowardly move on the Nandom dispute, I had predicted as much. However, in view of the circumstances surrounding the GTV reportage, a number of critical questions and further analyses seriously beg:

1. DID GTV MAKE AN HONEST MISTAKE OR WAS IT COMPLICIT IN THIS DEVIOUS SCHEME? For a premier news organization, such as GTV is, fair-minded people would like to think that it would not (repeat NOT) so carelessly abdicate its professional and ethical standards in favour of a rush to judgment on a rather sensitive matter, such as a chieftaincy dispute. It is the natural order of journalistic business that ALL broadcasts attract rigorous prior verification, in order to establish factuality and accuracy, especially, if GTV is not itself the primary investigative source. To be fair, the Kakube Festival itself is fair reportage, but the sensitive chieftaincy dispute component of such fair reportage aught to have been recognized specifically for what it is – a delicate issue with dire destabilizing potential.

2. WAS GTV AN INNOCENT CHANNEL IN THE HANDS OF A MANIPULATIVE POLITICIAN SUCH AS MR. AMBROSE DERY? To be factually accurate, Mr. Ambrose Dery’s involvement with the GTV news segment is only being alleged here. Yet his close collaboration with the illegally installed Nandom Naa, in similar matters before this one, such as the unlawful, deceitful, cowardly and fake detention of Rear Admiral Dzang (one of several pretenders to the Nandom Skin), cannot be ignored, in consideration of whether Mr. Dery is complicit in this latest scheme or not. Equally true is the fact that in Ghana, issues do not simply become part of major news segments without the sympathy and benevolence of some powerful incumbent politician; and MOST DEFINITELY, GTV was not short on newsworthy items to have found the Kakube Festival worthy of reporting; nor did it suddenly have an epiphany on fair and wide coverage to have decided that a festival in the almost barren corners of Upper-Western Ghana deserved significant coverage. Clearly, other dubious factors informed GTV’s decision to cast the item. A simple request, for instance, to produce court-verified exculpatory evidence testifying to the effect that the said court cases had been summarily withdrawn by the Plaintiffs would immediately have revealed the fraud in the announcement. Mr. Ambrose Dery, himself a lawyer, knows fully well the adverse consequences of forgery and would be foolish to be visibly associated with such a scheme if he can help it. Fortunately, discerning people know better and we have a National Media Commission to investigate and direct remedy to the matter.

Further, upon investigations at the Upper-West Regional House of Chiefs and the Court of Appeals, I was categorically told by officers of both institutions that they had received no such requests to withdraw any cases pending against Dr? Imoru. In fact the Upper-West Regional House of Chiefs emphatically noted that as far as it was concerned, the Nandom Chieftaincy is still a substantive dispute before it and until the relevant lawful Plaintiff(s) in the case before it withdraw(s) the matter in writing, they cannot hold a contrary view based upon what is apparently a dubiously sanctioned news item. In the Wa circuit court which is not the court of competent jurisdiction in the Nandom chieftaincy matter, it was confirmed that a notice for withdrawal had been received from one Ben Kyella (aka Rasta) in a separate criminal suit against Dr? Naa? Charles Imoru, about his involvement in brutalities, slave labour, non-accountability of the Nandom Skin funds and also, for their willingness to testify against Naa? Imoru in a case on cattle theft in Nandom. Clearly, any confusion of the above suit with a suit for fraudulent occupation of the Nandom Chieftaincy is a gross and deliberate misrepresentation of the facts, calculated to achieve diabolical objectives since no court has received written notification from the Plaintiffs withdrawing any pending cases against Dr? Imoru.

3. IS THIS AN ISOLATED INCIDENT OR IS THERE PRECEDENCE? The fact of the matter is that a few days earlier, a similar scheme had been executed right here in Nandom through Radio FREED, a supposedly “…independent, not-for-profit organization… [which uses] Radio and other electronic media technology as a platform to launch educational programs targeted at children and adults in deprived rural communities of the wider Nandom Traditional Area”. However, Deep Throat can reveal that in the said incident, coercion and deception were used on one old Uncle of Naa? Imoru’s to sign a so-called Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), for which a cash reward of One Million Cedis was made to this signatory, and that subsequently, Mr. Dery and Naa? Imoru, used their influence with Radio FREED, to get a similar announcement to be made. Not surprising because Naa? Imoru somehow believes that he can secure the people’s recognition and validation of his illegal occupation of the Nandom Skin through the Radio, just as over 20 years ago, he schemed his way into his current illegal position through another ill-conceived Radio announcement.

My investigations sadly reveal however that the generosity and intentions of those sons, daughters and well-wishers of Nandom who deserve the credit for establishing FREED, are now being hi-jacked by the likes of Naa? Imoru and Mr. Dery for their capricious private agenda.

The point to be made is that in both the GTV and Radio FREED instances, the order of responsible, fair and equitable journalistic conduct, had been abandoned under the extremely heavy weight of political interference, manipulation and subterfuge. How could GTV, which is supposed to be the pacesetter in responsible journalism and an example of independent, fair reportage, and the so-called “independent” FREED, show such public bias on the festering Nandom dispute? For instance, efforts by a majority of Royal Family members strongly opposed to the so-called MOU, to get Radio FREED to announce a retraction and dissociation statement on the earlier dubious announcement, are currently being blocked by the Management of FREED, with the rather specious and foolish explanation that a retraction announcement from them can only proceed upon a retraction from GTV. How come? They were the first to falsely report the matter? And whatever happened to their so-called INDEPENDENCE and NON-PARTISANSHIP, that they have to await cues from GTV? Come on, it is now well-known that in both instances, GTV’s and FREED’s conduct can only be explained upon the backdrop of cronyism and political manipulation, and who could be responsible for such scheming? Take your best guess.

Finally, I must revisit the ADGRS – I mean the “Ambrose Dery Gate Rotation System”, even as investigations continue. To fully grasp the precarious destabilizing potential of Mr. Dery’s system, one must again look to precedents in the “Gate System” and two quick examples suffice – the Dagbon and Wa cases, which are the most visible examples of the “Gate System”. Incidentally, they are currently the most troubled chieftaincy-wise. In the former, there has been much blood-letting and the heavens still cry out for a thorough investigation into the brutal decapitation of the former Overlord of Dagbon; in the latter, Mr. Dery’s unhelpful involvement with significant destabilizing effects has been many times alleged recently. Even with these examples, a number of Presidential Commissions had sat upon the matters and proposed those systems. Of course it is now clear that those measures were only a temporary palliative, and we ought to learn from that. A Gate Rotation System may not in itself be bad; however, it is the MANNER and OBJECT of its design and introduction that begs of its wisdom and most importantly success. I would be first to admit that since becoming involved with the Nandom matter, that given the increasing size of the Royal Family over time, there needs to be a fair and equitable system to afford all Princes of the Family, the opportunity to systematically aspire to the Nandom Skin. The prerogative for initiating such a system however rests fully with the Royal Family and it must involve ALL of them and it must be transparent. However, the current system a là Ambrose Dery who is more so not a Royal Family member is fraught with problems. One would like to think that a competent government official, such as a Regional Minister, would at least look for guidance in the way he administers a region, from examples relevant to the challenges he faces in his region. Mr. Dery is a lawyer, and the last time I checked basic law, there is something called “condition precedent” – but it appears Mr. Dery’s “political stomach” is fast taking precedence over his professional ethics as a lawyer.

If any outcomes of these latest manipulations by Mr. Dery and Naa? Imoru may be deemed successful, they may only relate to their success at rousing the ire of Nandom? against the strong bad example of political engagement and crooked chiefs that both Mr. Dery and Naa? Imoru represent respectively. Further, they have succeeded in deepening and widening the Nandom dispute, rather than abating it, with the new manipulation of a few otherwise upstart family members who failed to recognize quite clearly that Mr. Dery’s and Naa? Imoru’s intentions are for the destruction of the Nandom Chieftaincy, and in its place, the construction of a new hegemony, outside of the current Nandom Royal Family. This is no news. The first shots of those intentions were long fired by Mr. Dery and Naa Imoru in an alliance cobbled together with the 2008 Parliamentary Elections in mind. If this is true, then I am marveled at Mr. Dery’s lack of foresight, but then again I am not. This man literally sold himself out to the crooked chief notwithstanding overwhelming evidence of the illegal usurpation of the Nandom Skin and false claims of a Ph. D from a university in Italy. Which university if I may ask? But I digress – to quote William Shakespeare, “In the corrupted currents of this world/ Offence’s gilded hand may shove by justice, And oft ’tis seen the wicked prize itself/ Buys out the law. But ’tis not so above./ There is no shuffling, there the action lies/ In his true nature; and we ourselves compell’d,/ Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults,/To give in evidence”.

Very, very sadly, the social construction of reality is that the Nandom Chieftaincy dispute is unabated and we all are the worst for it. Of course, investigations continue…

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